Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that Russia and Belarus are capable of producing “any type of weapon” and can export such products to 57 countries around the world, circumventing sanctions on weapons production.

“Despite unprecedented sanctions pressure, we produce sufficient quantities of weapons and military equipment to meet the needs of the Belarusian army. This is due to the fact that all we need in terms of military hardware we easily receive from Russia,” the president said during a meeting on military procurement that was posted on the Lukashenko-aligned Pul Pervogo Telegram channel.

“But as far as microelectronics, optical electronics, optics, etc. are concerned, kudos to those who preserved the legacy of the Soviet Union, and therefore, together with Russia, we are capable of manufacturing any type of weapon,” Lukashenko added.

“We can also afford to export this sort of product to 57 countries of the world. This is what we are doing”, he added.

Lukashenko’s latest comments come on the eve of his trip to China. The U.S. has warned Beijing against giving weapons to Russia as Moscow looks for other sources of military hardware.

Belarus has sought to stay out of actively participating in the war while assisting Russia in terms where it can, having allowed Russia to launch its initial invasion of northern Ukraine from Belarusian territory.

Last Monday, Lukashenko said he had ordered the formation of a new volunteer territorial defense of up to 150,000 people. And on Friday, he said he’d had a long chat with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

— Holly Ellyatt